I was intrigued to read that a recruiter had been fired by Pepsico for failing to provide a diverse short list which should have included more than one woman. I actually don’t think the lack of women on a short list is a diversity issue, but one of balance and inclusion. It’s a small thing…

Social media is now becoming an unforeseen danger zone for HR Managers. Career coaches are constantly exhorting candidates to take care of their cyber foot print, especially at entry-level. All recruiters and head hunters usually check out applicants online before meeting them. Line managers have been warned to pay attention when liking and sharing inappropriate content…

Apps and platforms that tackle workplace bias in job search and recruitment Tech is considered to be one of the least gender balanced sectors. Women are difficult to identify, attract and when that does happen, the churn levels are especially high. But it is also an area which is well placed to offer support to organisations wanting to monitor or…

Structured interviews in the hiring process Structured interviews with data driven questioning and assessment are being touted as the “new” way forward in selection processes to avoid unconscious bias, especially in relation to gender bias. Today, most interviewers adopt a fairly relaxed approach to interviewing. There is a strong preference for what seems like casual questioning about the candidate’s background and…

How helpful are Blind CVs? There has been a recent move towards proposing blind CVs in the recruitment process. Intended to increase diversity and reduce bias in areas such as gender, ethnicity and ageism, a number of organisations are committing to this system, including the U.K. Civil Service, the BBC, the NHS,  the European Union, KPMG and HSBC. But…

At a dinner party last week I was asked by a yummy mummy, what field should she encourage her daughter to go into and what academic choices would I advise she make? The kid is 8.  Now my first instinctive reaction was that this was more than a little over the top. I wondered if I had encountered a good dose of PMS (Pushy Mother Syndrome)…

Suzannah works in investment banking. She is on track for a senior role and intends to have a high 6 figure salary (at least) by the time she is 40. Her goal is to break through the glass ceiling in this male dominated sector which has less than 10%  women at board level. Sacrifice culture A 70 hour week…

How makeup is impacting the workplace I was facilitating a meeting in Paris some years ago and one delegate asked about women, makeup and career advancement. Is makeup a career issue? In a professional world driven by gender stereotypes  – of course it’s an issue for both men and women. There wasn’t time to go…